Swing clip



July 21, 1964 5 SHEARS 3,141,219

SWING CLIP Filed April 1, 1963 Iwveuior. Sinai"? T Shears,

any.

United States Patent 3,141,219 SWING CLIP Stuart T. Shears, Belmont, Mass., assignor to United- Carr Incorporated, a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 269,473 *1 Claim. (Cl. 24261) This invention relates generally to clip devices and more particularly to clip devices for holding wings in a wallet, pass case or the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a clip device of one piece construction for holding in assembly a series of folded members within a cover.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a clip device which may be easily assembled with a pass case or the like.

Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

1n the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the clip device;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a pass case cover with the clip engaged with one aperture;

FIG. 3 is a perspective showing the clip completely assembled with the pass case cover and being assembled with a folded member;

FIG. 4 is a section of the cover and folded member, the clip being shown in side elevation; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective showing a variation of the clip shown in FIG. 1.

In the past the clip or, as it is sometimes referred to, the swing clip has been formed of several different elements which are when compared with the applicants device of a highly complicated nature. The swing clip disclosed herein is of one piece construction. Furthermore, the means of attaching the clip to the binder has in many of the devices utilized in the past required fairly close tolerances whereas in the applicants device the tolerances need not be as closely supervised.

Referring to the drawings there is shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, a clip having a base portion 16, an end of the base portion 16 being bent in an acute angular relation to the base portion 16 to form a guide element 18. The other end of the base portion 16 is bent into a U- shaped connector portion 20 which is continued as a holding portion 22 in spaced parallel relationship with a part of the base portion 16. At the end of the holding portion 22 the loop element 12 is formed curving backwards so that its free terminal end 14 is in spaced relation with the base portion 16 and with the holding portion 22 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4.

The loop element 12 is formed in a manner which allows a portion of it commencing with the juncture with the holding portion 22 to be in integral right angle relationship therewith. This relationship allows the outer surface of the free terminal end 14 of the loop element 12 to perform its function in a more efficient manner as will be more clearly set forth hereinafter.

The pass case, or the like, 24 which provides a support for the clip 10 is designed to be folded traversely adjacent its center section thereby providing front and back portions. At the fold two apertures 26 and 28 are formed being spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the base portion 16 as shown in FIG. 3. To engage the clip 10 with the pass case 24 the guide element 18 is passed down through the aperture 26 and then the total base portion 16 is also passed through the aperture 26 until the wall of the aperture 26 butts against the bight of the connector portion 20. At this point the clip, except for a part of the holding portion 22 and a part 3,141,219 Patented July 21, 1964 of the base portion 16, lies outside the area delineated by the pass case 24 as shown in FIG. 2. The clip 10 is then rotated around an axis formed by the bight portion of the connector portion 20 until the guide element 18 passes through the aperture 28. In this rotational movement, the loop element 12 is on one side of the pass case 24 and the base portion and the guide element 18 are on the opposite side of the pass case 24. At the completion of this engagement there is contact between the outer surface of the terminal end 14 of the loop element 12 and the surface of the pass case 24. A foldable member 30 is now passed over the free end of the guide element 18 and under the lower surface of the free terminal end 14 of the loop element 12 and thence down under the holding portion 22 to butt on one edge against the connector portion 20. At this juncture the other edge of the foldable member 30 would have slipped down into an abutting relationship with the inner surface of the guide element 18. The foldable member 30 may comprise a pair of transparent envelopes joined at one end to a flexible center section 32 with notches 33 and 33:: formed at each edge of the center section 32 as shown in FIG. 3.

This operation may be continued with five, six or seven more foldable members which are engaged to the pass case 24 in a manner similar to that of the first foldable member 30.

To disengage a foldable member 36 from the clip 10 and the pass case 24 the side edge farthest from the loop element 12 is lifted up and over the guide element 18 and then pulled from under the clip for complete disengagement. Because of the extreme flexibility of the clip 10 at the connector portion 20, it is possible to have a wide range of the number of foldable members 30 which may be accommodated.

Of course, a device similar to the applicants clip 10 may be formed of a plastic material which would have sulficient resiliency to accommodate the range of foldable members which are to be engaged. Naturally, if the part is made out of plastic, it would probably not be in the form of a wire but would have flat surfaces molded into the configuration disclosed.

The fastener can be made more efiicient by bending the guide element 18 back on itself in the direction away from the loop element 12. In this case the bight should be extremely sharp so that the two folded parts will lie in abutting or very close to abutting relationship. The face edge of the guide element 18 will then provide a means for holding the foldable members 31) more securely in place.

A variation of the clip device shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 is disclosed in FIG. 5. This particular device does not utilize the right angle relationship between the beginning of the loop element 12a and the holding portion 22a. In this case the relationship between the holding portion 22a and the beginning of the clip element 12a is in the form of an obtuse angle which reduces the radius of the loop required.

Beyond the mentioned changes the rest of the fastener is identical with the fastener disclosed in FIGS. 1 through 4.

While there has been illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that the invention is best defined by the following claim.

I claim:

A unitary, wire formed, pass case clip device wherein all the portions of the device lie in a common plane, said clip comprising a base portion, an arcuate connector por- 3 tion integral With one end of said base portion, the other end of said base portion being bent from the plane of said base portion to form a guide portion, a holder portion integral with said connector portion and in spaced parallel relation to said base portion to provide a space adapted to receive a pass holder therebetween, and a loop portion integral with said holder portion and defining an arc of at least 180, said loop portion having a free terminal end spaced from said base portion to provide a space adapted to receive a pass holder therebetween, and said loop portion and said guide portion lying on the same side of said base portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Badger Aug. 4, 1885 Boyer Jan. 7, 1913 Tinnerman Aug. 16, 1938 Canfield Aug. 22, 1939 Osher Mar. 1, 1960 Rinaldi Jan. 30, 19 62 Rinaldi Feb. 26, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Jan. 26, 1961 

